Wrong Place, Wrong Time
by Madame Vodka
Summary: Is the worst day of Reid's life going to be his last? Can the team find the unsubs behind a series of plane crashes?
1. Chapter 1

Wrong Place, Wrong Time.

"_If any ask why we died, tell them because our fathers lied." __Rudyard Kipling_

The team as a whole were rarely late, yes there was one or two sudden sicknesses, traffic problems but no-one was more than an hour late inexplicably. When S. A Doctor Spencer Reid was over two hours late, with his cellphone instantly switching to voice mail, worry and fear escalated through the team, made worse by the fact that a new case meant that they had to leave without him. The team were quickly briefed on the serial rapist currently terrorising Missouri and delayed boarding the plane for another hour just in chance but still no Reid; no phone call and no time.

The conversation as they boarded the plane became centered around him and not the unsub, as the fear that everyone dared not voice, was approached.

"What if he is using again?"

"He isn't" Morgan and Hotch stated firmly simultaneously, both a little shocked at the firmness in the other's voice, daring the others to question. "We need to have to faith with everyone in this team. Garcia is going to keep trying to contact Reid for us, and hopefully he will join us in Arizona." Hotch continued

"What if he doesn't?"

"As soon as this case is over, we will find him. It is possible that he overslept or there was a family emergency, or even that he accidentally flushed his phone down the toilet, but at the end of it all, we will find him. But right now we need to concentrate on our unsub, what do we know so far?"

"Based on the timing, the nature of the attacks and the victims. The unsub is most likely to be a power reassurance rapist. Most typically these men are single, social loners who still live with their parents." Morgan offered, still glaring defiantly at the rest of the team.

"This type of rapist is usually in a menial occupation, if not caught soon the violence in his attacks will increase and the likelihood the unsub will stop on his own in minimal." Prentiss offered in a way of peace.

"Morgan and Rossi, I want you to look at the geological profile on where the attacks have taken place, this type of unsub usually travels on foot. Prentiss interview the victims, see if there is anything missing. Rei..." Hotchner blanked for a moment, if expecting Reid to suddenly appear out the toilets and apologise for being late. "JJ talk to local PD and have Garcia research the neighborhood, see if there is any previous unconvicted crimes of similar nature in the area."

* * *

Reid sat quietly, trying to hide his growing fear as he sat, surrounded by darkness, unable to even see the people sitting around him. But he could hear them, crying, whispering, "Are you OK?" "Where are you?" "Shut up!" "Whats happening??". He thought grimly that if any other agent was in his position, they would of said firmly to the crowd "I am a FBI agent!" and started reassuring people, trying to keep the calm but in the case, for once, he didn't know what was happening and didn't think it would be wise to say anything.

* * *

It was a strange day indeed J.J reflected, a new one in every profilers book. they had arrived in Arizona, after being there for no more than four hours, the news came in that the unsub had been caught as he attempted to attack another women, who in return, had promptly shot him dead. Even the Arizona PD officers were shocked, and very apologetic for bringing the BAU all the way from Virginia. The BAU stayed long enough for the confirmation that this was indeed the Unsub before turning round and heading home. JJ and Morgan unknowingly to each other, were both hearing Reid's voice in their heads, telling them how Unsubs like Son of Sam were caught by equally surprising methods.

Hotch was about to phone Garcia to ask if Reid had appeared yet when his phone rang in his hand. He frowned, as the caller id said Strauss, and disappeared away from the other agents. After waiting for a few minutes Prentiss finally spoke up

"Where should we start looking for Reid?" She was still hoping to build the final bridges into making it as a team member, but even shocked herself as she realised that she too was genuinely concerned over Reid's disappearance.

"We can't" Hotch stated firmly behind her, and then added quickly before Morgan could apprehend him in anger. "Flight 2032 Virginia to Missouri has been brought down an hours ago, and the BAU have been called into investigate."

"They are considering this a terrorist attack?" Rossi asked, Hotch nodded still carefully watching Morgan.

"How do they know the plane wasn't brought down through a weather fault?" Derek asked, uninterested, his mind still trying to figure out the location of one Doctor S. Reid, trying not to show his anger at yet another event stopping him.

"The fact that a member of the maintenance crew was found dead in one of the storage docks and that this is the second crash today. Even without the cause of the crash being known, it is being treated as a suspicious circumstance. The FBI does not want the trail to go cold during the investigation period, which is why we are being called in. The fact that the plane was flying from Virginia means its under our jurisdiction." Hotchner paused for a brief moment, surveying his crew "What do we know on air crashes?"

The team was quiet for a few moments, waiting for the voice to sound from the corner, with some inevitable statistic, JJ could practically hear Reid saying that the chances of being involved in an aircraft accident was so and so. But there was nothing.

Prentiss spoke up quietly, not wanting the role of Reid but knowing that there was no time "The fact that its a large scale incident in a public area points to the fact it may be a extremist homicide, committed on behalf of a political, religious, economic or socialist group."

"We would need more information on what sort of groups are operating in Virginia, Has anyone claimed responsibility yet?" Rossi asked, as Hotch shook his head, "Then assuming it is an extremist group, there is little we can do until they post their manifesto except look through all the passengers and workers on the planes to see who might be the unsubs target."

"I'll call Garcia and ask for a list of passengers for both planes." Derek volunteered, already flicking open his mobile.

"Good, the rest of you, research and see if any indication of a manifesto has been leaked yet." Hotch stated monotonously. As five out of six people on the plane busied themselves with work and wished they were anywhere but on a plane dealing with a plane crash, the six person concentrated on flying.

Reviews mean faster chapters :) no reviews mean no cookies. Yes in a part of the conversation, I didn't make it clear who was speaking, that was on purpose, mainly cause I couldn't decide who would dare doubt.

And also I know my grammar stinks, I am actually a university student studying creative writing and English, so I know it be stinky. But please remember I am English and there are certain words we spell differently to Americans, but if you spot a spelling mistake, please feel free to point it out, its the only way I will learn. I did proof read this chapter numerous times and consulted google and spell check for mistakes.


	2. Chapter 2

"Office of the Omnipotent Oracle"

"Hey Baby doll. Any news on Reid?"

" One cute little doctor did make his way over here. Half an hour after you have left, how ironic is that?"

"Did he say why he was so late?" Morgan asked eagerly, not expecting a sharp bleep in his ear followed by static. Shaking his head in annoyance he realised that they were passing over a very rural area and his signal had been lost.

Hotch looked up expectantly, "Is Reid at the BAU?"

"I think so, we were cut off before she could answer, I'll ring her back when the signal returns."

* * *

Earlier that day

Reid was definitely not having a good day, in fact after all he had been through, this was definitely the third worse. No contest! When he got out of bed this morning he had tripped and nearly knocked himself out on his chest of drawers. Then he had burnt his hand whilst trying to make coffee, before leaving for work, only just managing to catch the tube on time. Now he sat sipping another coffee, reading through the newspaper, when the lights suddenly went out and the tube came to a sudden sharp jolt which lead to even more coffee being spilt on his already burnt hand.

Reid sat quietly, trying to hide his growing fear as he sat, surrounded by darkness, unable to even see the people sitting around him. But he could hear them, crying, whispering, "Are you ok?" "Where are you?" "Shut up!" "Whats happening??"

Then a women screamed "We are all going to die!" and Reid just couldn't help himself, raising his voice just loud enough to be heard over the screams.

"The possibility of us dying down here is ... well almost laughable." The women quieten down slightly, and he could feel anger and impatience being directed at him from other passengers. "The tube is safety protected which means oxygen is constantly entering the train, even in the case of the fire, the statistics of a fire being at two ends of the train in one in a million so there is always an escape route. The trains run on electricity so there is very little chance of an explosion. Most likely is that there has been a power cut on this grid."

"How long will it take to restore power?" a male asked, Reid estimated he was sitting bout three feet away, the whole carriage was silent in waiting for a response.

"Depends on what the problem is really. It can take anything from twenty minutes to over two hours. If power isn't restored within an hour, it's standard procedure to send rescue teams down to retrieve passengers and lead them to safety."

"What if its a terrorist attack?"

* * *

Garcia decided that a drastic event such as Reid disappearing, caused for a drastic action. She hacked in to the security cameras closest to Reid's home and watched as he left his house this morning. She frowned noticing a darkest bruise appearing on his forehead but watched him, as a few hours ago he had left the coffee shop and got on the tube. She flicked to the cameras which showed the stop where Reid would of gotten off at. No Reid.

In fact no one. Not the usual commuters crowd leaving, just a few trickle of people who she saw going in. What is going on? She thought, puzzled. Digger deeper she hacked deeper before realising that a power cut had stopped all trains and Reid was currently...

"Where is everyone?" a voice asked behind her. Behind her. She quickly minimized all her screens before turning to greet him happily.

"They been given a new case in Arizona, Hotch said that if you came in, you should catch the next plane over to them."

"Does he want me to call first?"

"You can call him while I book your flights? How was the underground?"

Reid didn't even look up as he dialed Hotch's number, Garcia summarised that he had already seen the surveillance videos. He held the phone to his ear through a few minutes as Garcia started typing.

"There is a flight leaving in forty minutes. If you hurry you can catch that one." Garcia stated, booking him in quickly. "You need to make one connection though." She said while printing off the details for him.

"I can't get through to Hotch."

"You can call him on your way. Hurry you don't want to be any later."

"Thanks Garcia."

"Your welcome my precious." a loud flutter told her that the birdlike Doc had flown. It was a few hours later, a little while after her disrupted conversation with "sigh" Morgan**, **that a strange ring tone interrupted her work. She turned round to realise that the sound was coming from one Dr Reid's phone.

"Hello, Reid's secretary here."

"what... Garcia??"

"Hello gorgeous. Didya miss me?"

"What are you doing with Reid's phone?"

"He accidentally left it my office. He's bout half way to you guys by now." an groan emitted from the phone. "What? Hotch said to send him over to you guys in Arizona."

"We are not in Arizona anymore, we are heading back to Virginia, we been given a new case."

"You mean Reid's going to arrive in Arizona with no phone and no idea where you guys are?"

"He has sense, am sure he will take the next flight back."

"I didn't think his day could get much worse. Will contact the airport staff to tell him to turn around."

"Thanks Baby doll. I also need you to pull up two passengers lists for me."

"There has been a crash?"

"Two, I need to know everyone who was on flight 2230 Texas to New Orleans and 2032, Virginia to Missouri, passengers, crew, pilots, maintenance crew everyone."

* * *

Authors notes- In Sex,Birth and Death, Reid is shown taking some kind of train/tube to work hence the presumption he is on the tube. I don't actually live in America, so writing about places have only ever seen on TV is a little hard. Did try researching the whole Virginia Metro system but my computer made a bleeping noise at me. I occasionally get bored and make stuff up. Though I did use some profiling books to get an accurate profile, there was little on the type of unsub that I created.

the whole of Reid's speech here, I made up. .

Side note, there is a station called Friendship Heights in Virginia, how cool is that?

Was really sad that only three people reviewed the last chapter, without Sue1313, Kasey and tearbos, there wouldnt even be another chapter, so thanks to you guys. If anyone can suggest a better summery would like to hear it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

Reid considered himself to be a confidant flyer, whenever the plane would start to shake, he would remind himself that "studies have shown that one would have to fly once a day, every day for over 15,000 years in order to statistically be involved in an aircraft accident" and that the chances of being involved in an aircraft accident are about 1 in 11 million. On the other hand, the chances of being killed in an automobile accident are 1 in 5000. Statistically, you are at far greater risk _driving_ to the airport than getting on an airplane, and he had already survived the trip to the airport. At this moment his greatest worry was how was he going to explain his lateness to the rest of the team? Sorry I am late, there was a power cut on the tube lines and I was stuck underground for two hours trying to explain to crazy people that a power cut is not an act of terrorism. It sounded crazy, even to him and he knew a least one member of the team would not let it pass without a comment or six.

Reid looked around at his fellow passengers, his mind automatically profiling them. There was a business man sitting next to him, his arrogant airs and constant demands to the cabin crew meant that, he was successful in his work, most likely to be a senior manager. The quiet mousy man whom he was barking orders to, (between sipping martini's), was most likely to be his P.A and judging by the mousy man's abrupt responses he most likely hated his boss and spent most of his time staring at him through the prongs of a fork and imaging him in jail. Reid thought that both men were married, but the mousy man was most likely to be going through a divorce. He thought that the couple in front of him, who had been sitting next to him in the departure gate were also married, but not to each other. That was evident from their happy but guilty looks and lack of ease with each other. They were almost screaming, we shouldn't be doing this without even saying anything. The women sitting next them, had recently quit smoking, she was most likely to be a teacher, he thought becau-- his analysis was interrupted by a child whining and kicking his chair, his mind formed a new profile, the family behind him were most likely to be annoying.

It was at that point that the plane started to shake, and Reid was almost deafened by a large explosion and could scarcely breathe, as they plummeted back towards earth. In those matter of minutes all Reid's memory could recall was the statistics for plane crashes and the photos of crashes sites, and right before impact, he remembered that the problem with chances like one in a million, is that sometimes you are the millionth.

And then there was fire.

* * *

"Two, I need to know everyone who was on flight 2230 and 2032, passengers, crew, pilots, maintenance crew everyone."

There was a long silence.

"Garcia? Talk to me baby girl. Garcia? ...Garcia?" Morgan wondered if he had lost the signal again when a long half gasp, half sob came from the other end.

"Reid .. Reid.. Reid"

"Is going to Arizona, this is the flight to Missouri, Kitten."

"No, no there were no direct flights to Arizona, he was going to make a transfer in Missouri to get on flight 2045 to Arizona.."

Now it was Morgan's turn to sit there in stunned silence. The rest of the team were staring at him with a sense of dread.

"Please get the passengers list. Sweetheart." he muttered numbly before hanging up. Unable to look up and meet the gazes of the rest of the team, he quietly continued. "Reid was on 2032."

"What?? what was he doing on that plane?"

"Meeting up with us, in Arizona." A numb silence descended on the whole plane.

"Do we have a list of survivors?" Rossi asked quietly.

"No, Search and rescue are still working at the crash site." Hotch muttered. "Until we know for certain, we must keep working and stay objective. We land in two hours, and at that point we will be able to find out more information. For now, lets take a few minutes to clear our heads and then resume working. Its not going to help Reid if we let these terrorists walk. Prentiss and Rossi, I want you to interview the maintenance crew, find out more about the murdered crew members, Morgan, I want you to assist me in looking through the passengers list. JJ keep up with the media, find out if anyone is claiming responsibility for the attacks, and inform SR that Reid is one of the passengers."

* * *

Garcia sat, still stunned from the phone call. Reid's phone a heavy weight on her hand, and the accident a heavy weight on her heart. She should have made him wait, until he could get a hold of Hotch, she shouldn't of put him on that flight. She thought, as tears began to make their descent down her face, dripping on to her shaking hands and onto a dead phone.

* * *

"The media is having a field day with the crashes, they are already considering it an act of terrorism." JJ announced, "Though no active terrorist group is claiming responsibility for the crashes. All major newsgroups have received an identically worded note, which they are faxing a copy over to us, the note was received through snail mail, postmarked both Virginia and Texas." JJ in her head was on her third prayer in five minutes. Please let him be ok, please let him be ok.

"So the unsubs have planned this attack right now to the number of days it would take for the notes to reach the newsgroups?" Prentiss muttered, wishing for a happy ending.

"It may be for the best if we concentrate our efforts with the group operating in Virginia, and leave Texas for the other investigators. How long will it take to determine a cause of the crash?" Hotch asked

"It can take months for the FAA to determine a true cause of the crash, but the first surveyors have said that the crash site is indicating a mechanical failure not a bombing." Rossi stated. "Its going to take days just to finish finding and identifying passengers and crew and notify their families." the one though on Rossi's mind at the point, was begging to be drip-fed scotch whiskey, just enough to numb.

Morgan said nothing, at this point frustration had boiled up, he couldn't even concentrate on what his team members were saying, all he could think was Reid, is he ok? Is he hurt? Has someone found him? Images of Reid in pain keep flashing unwelcome in his mind. He looked briefly at the team with the expression of pure hatred, we are almost family damn it! Why don't any of you care?

At that point, the fax machine came to life and spewed out the hand written words.

"2230 and 2032 are the work of Alah! Death to the infadels."

* * *

These statistics were taken off an official looking website, may or may not be true.

Wow, a couple of reviewers caught on that its Reid on the plane, it could of been Gideon, I thought by putting Reid on the flight to Arizona and the crash in Missouri (destination Virginia to Missouri) might distract you a little but too darn smart :P, also thanks to those who corrected the tube, speacially grey-eyed-goddess for the image of Reid actually stuck in a cardboard tube :) the image is making me laugh still :):) and thanks to Lori, :) for explaining Washington's metro system to me :) going to have to take liberties with this one, but did find your explanation interesting thank you :)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four.

Hotch stared at the note for a moment and asked "What were the names of the maintenance crew who were found murdered?"

JJ consulted her notes before replying "In Texas, Ali Yasir and in Virginia, Saleh Ahmed"

"I see, Morgan can you call Garcia and ask her to research all the members of both maintenance crews, I would like to know their full backgrounds before we interview the Virginia crew. Prentiss can you call Virginia PD and Texas PD to make sure that both crews have been detained for questioning."

"Yes Sir." Prentiss flicked open her phone whilst Morgan stayed immobile.

"Morgan?"

"Don't you care even a little bit about Reid?" the agent thundered. "Fuck Hotch, you are just barking orders without even calling Missouri, asking if he has been found."

Hotch slammed his fist down on the table before Morgan, meeting his gaze angrily " Of course I care!" he spoke through gritted teeth, Morgan got the feeling that Hotch was using every last bit of self restraint not to hit him. "I want to know just as much as you whether Reid is hurt or not, but I know that right now we wont be able to get through to Missouri at all but the minute we find out which hospital hes been taken to, we will be on the next flight out there. Right now, we need to separate him from the job and concentrate on catching the unsubs before another plane is brought down!" he paused "do you know why I asked you to call Garcia?"

"No."

"How do you think she is feeling right now? She is the one who booked Reid onto that plane? Do you think she is maybe needed someone close to her, to talk to her?" Morgan slowly flicked opened his phone. "We land in an hour, I want to have as much details as possible on both crews before we land."

* * *

Search and rescue Jack Michaels checked for a pulse on the young women in front of him, as sweat cascaded down his face, he was dying for a drink of water but wanted to finish checking for survivors first. A weak splutter from behind a chunk of plane caught his attention. He slowly moved it aside to be confronted with the partially burnt bodies of three men, still strapped into their seats. The first was a young man, light brown hair, a large burnt prevented any facial recognition, Jack noticed with slight horror that his arm was also missing, he was long past any medical help. The man sitting next to him, was a graying man, a slight burn across his cheek and large burns across what once was an expensive business suit. He was still breathing but only slightly. Jack radioed across to the paramedics before checking out the final man, who lay with closed eyes, contorted breathing, as like the other men, he had been hit in the torso with fire. Within ten minutes they had been removed with care, leaving behind the first dead male to be body bagged later.

* * *

"Hey Garcia."

"People aren't getting up and walking away."

"What??"

"People aren't walking away with minor injuries." There came a sob, as Morgan realised how much he just wanted to be there, to comfort her. "and if people aren't just walking away, Reid could be really really hurt."

"Penelope. Listen to me."

"Its my fault isn't it? I put him on that plane.. I I killed him didn't I?" Hotch who had been standing behind Morgan, listening, choosing that moment to take the phone off Morgan and disappear out of earshot. Morgan just sat there, stunned, not knowing what to say or how to feel. When Hotch reappeared ten minutes later, the PDA's of the crew began to buzz with information on the crews and passengers lists.

"Morgan, I want you to go back to the BAU, when we land." Morgan didn't argue.

* * *

When Hotch said that he was going to interview Joshua Brooks, Prentiss and Rossi felt a slight chill, unknowingly just what Hotch was going to do, Brooks is stupid he said, before entering the interrogation room.

"Why am I here? You should be out catching those sons of bitches!" Joshua Brooks yelled at the emotionless Aaron Hotchner.

"We are conducting the investigation into the crash and wanted to know more details about your colleague Saleh Ahmed."

"Him? I told your officers that that shifty bastard is the ones you should be questioning, not me!"

"Saleh Ahmed was found murdered a few hours ago, but you already knew that. My guess is that if you didn't kill him yourself, you know which one of your crew did."

"This is shit! I want my lawyer."

"Go ahead and call him. While you are at it, you should call a lawyer for your brother Lionel." Brooks became silent, "I know you both are responsible for the planes crash. All I need to do now is determine just how many of your crew were working with you." more silence. "You were planning to start a race war, by bringing down the planes as an act of "Allah", you thought that you could stir up hate, revenge for your daughter." if looks could kill, both men would be dead.

"You have no right to talk bout my daughter."

"You had no right to kill innocent people."

"How did you know?"

"This." Hotch pulled out a piece of paper, with the hand written words. "2230 and 2032 are the work of Alah! Death to the infadels."

"I don't understand."

"Infidel is spelt wrong, yes it could be the work of someone whose second language was English but could also be the work of someone, who was poorly educated, someone with a grudge against the Muslim community. You knew that another wave of terrorist attacks would prompt more hatred towards the Muslim community."

"One spelling mistake doesn't mean it was me."

"We knew it wasn't the work of a terrorist, and since it wasn't a bomb which brought the plane down, it had to be technical fault, and since you had sent these letters out ahead of time, we knew it wasn't accidental. You knew there was a fault, you put it there."

"It could have been Ahmed." Brooks said weakly

"No, it couldn't of been. You were right, one spelling mistake didn't automatically denote you, but two did, Ahmed or indeed any member of the Muslim community would not of spelt Allah wrong. You killed Ahmed and your brother killed Ali; my guess is that you were going to claim that a radical Muslim terrorists killed them so that they could take their place on the maintenance crew and of course you wouldn't notice because they all look like to you!" the anger was rising in Hotch's voice now, Rossi already had his hand on the door, waiting for an excuse to enter the room.

"But now," Hotch's voice calmed "you are going to spend the rest of your life in jail, because of one spelling mistake"

* * *

and other evidence, nothing is ever that simple

Well I went away last weekend for three days, just after posting the fic, came back to 32 new messages :) but sadly only five were reviews. Bah. So far only one person has pointed out that Allah was spelt wrong, was hoping a few more people would fall into that trick. Parzival pointed out that the note was similar to the original 9/11 attacks. Sorry that wasn't intentional.

There is now two endings to this story.


	5. If Reid is to the right of the CEO

Chapter five – If Reid was the man to the right of the CEO

"Tell me you have some good news Sweetheart."

"Derek." She said softly, while tears began to fall from her eyes, Derek lent forward, embracing her in a hug, hiding his own cascading tears.

This hurt, hurt more than anything he could remember.

The team had felt similar when Elle quit, when Gideon left, because there were no goodbyes just pain, pain and more pain. But at least with them, there was some happiness because they were still alive. You knew they were out somewhere, finding themselves and living.

But with Reid, it hurt more because now he won't be somewhere eating pizza, watching star trek, he wasn't lecturing, he was just gone... too soon. No goodbyes just gone.. too soon. Morgan closed his eyes to the world.

* * *

In the FBI line of the work, there was always a fear of death on duty, it was a shadow looming over every situation. Every time the bullet proof vest was strapped on, every time a new case started, every time they boarded an airplane, there was a small fear that this might be the last time they were a team. After seeing so many people who had been murdered just going to the store, or jogging or even just going into their own home, all of the team had faced their morality. As their leader, as a Lawyer, as the grim faced grim reaper, Hotch had been entrusted with the team's wills and funeral wishes. It was the part of the job he hated the most.

After the situation with Tobias, after having to dig his own grave, but also after a life-long fear of the dark and the unknown. Reid had asked to be cremated, at the time Hotch had told him not to be so morbid and that he was going to out live them all. Its just a precaution he said.

It felt so unnatural to Hotch, everything was screaming that he shouldn't be here, none of them should be here, this wasn't real. The proverb goes that parents should never bury their children, but here he was, burning Reid. The youngest, the one who should have outlived them all.

Hotch couldn't face losing another member of his team. Seeing another empty desk. He couldn't concentrate on the ceremony, his mind was too clouded with thoughts. Should I leave the BAU? Without Reid, the BAU would be crippled, if he also left, it would be destroyed. If the BAU died then all he had worked for died too, more killers would evade authority, and he would of lost Hayley and Jack for nothing..But could he face his broken team? Are they even effective enough to work now?

Hotch felt deeply angry and betrayed too. Who had shown up for Reid's funeral except the BAU? No-one. Out of all the people he saved, all he had taught, his mother, his father, Elle and Gideon, especially Gideon. Where were they? Well his mother in her current catatonic state couldn't be blamed but the rest... Reid's life had been filled with betrayals but this seemed the biggest and the saddest.

What is the point in working so hard? If at the end of it all, you have nothing and no-one. Hotch asked the world silently.

Next to Hotch, Prentiss sat, feeling physically sick, her eyes fixated on the wooden box. All she could think about was coffee ... right now even the sight of a Starbucks made her want to cry. JJ sobbed into Prentiss's shoulders, she kept remembering New York, teaching Reid how to use chopsticks, she had always seen him as her younger brother. A mantra repeated in her head; he shouldn't be the one in that coffin, he shouldn't of died like that... He shouldn't of died alone. He shouldn't of died like that... He shouldn't of died alone.

Morgan hadn't spoken to anyone in three days. He couldn't comfort, couldn't be comforted. It shouldn't be Reid in there, the kid had survived so much, he could talk his way out of being shot, beaten but no one could talk their way out of a plane crash.. why didn't he have a chance? He deserved a chance! Someone should of given him a chance!

Morgan hated the BAU now, hated the people sitting next to him. If they had gone looking for him that day, instead of going to Arizona, where they weren't even needed! If they had gone looking for him then no one would have boarded any planes, everyone would be alive. If only...

This wasn't real, Reid was playing a prank on them all, at any point now he would jump out of the coffin, laughing ... or burst through the doors yelling that they had the wrong person. Morgan held his breath, waiting to hear Reid's voice. Come on Reid. Come on..

Garcia sat apart from the others, her world was already being to crash and burn. The team didn't know yet but next week they would be attending her funeral, the only ones who would be attending her funeral. She couldn't live with herself anymore, it was hard before, when the fisher king used her and her computer to attack the rest of the team. She had been close to quitting then but now, because of her... she was the one who had put Reid on that plane, she had killed him. The others knew this, that's why they weren't speaking to her, she had let them all down, she had betrayed them all over again. Garcia who had been crying non stop for four days, feeling that she didn't deserve to live, left the funeral early to buy vodka and paracetamol.

Spencer Reid became a statistic.

+ ... + ... +

* * *

If this chapter made you really sad, go watch a video on youtube, its call Criminal Minds we go together. it isn't mine but came across it recently and it really makes me smile ;) and hopefully will make you smile too.

I was writing this chapter from 12 til 2.30 a.m, in my Auntie's spare bed room, which was conveniently lighted by the street lamp down the street, (didn't want to get up and put on the light, its a long explanation). Its not easy transcribing 2 am scribbles so I hope you appreciate.. I didn't wake up that morning knowing I was going to kill my two favourite characters. I have already mentioned that this is one of two endings, actually its one of three... Is Reid going to die in both chapters? I don't actually know yet... haven't finished writing it... but there is an old Apache saying...

I feel really weird killing Garcia... Garcia! Reid! Oh and some of you were asking bout the significance of the daughter in the last chapter? I needed to give the Unsub a reason for his hatred against the Muslim community, his daughter's death was the reason. how did she die? maybe she died in 9/11, maybe she died in a hit n run? maybe she was murdered by her husband?.. I don't know I couldn't decide but since a couple of you asked thought would try and explain more.


	6. if Reid is to the left of the CEO

If Reid is sitting on the left.

"Tell me you have some good news Sweetheart."

She smiled at Morgan, for the last four hours he had been pestering her to work a little more magic and finally she could help.

"I have found him."

* * *

Reid was not aware of the paramedics, of the needles, of the doctors, of the surgeons. He was not aware of the pain, of the burns, of the head wounds or the broken limb. For the time being, the mind of one Dr Spencer Reid had simply ceased to exist.

* * *

Morgan and Garcia sat impatiently in the traffic, Morgan was deeply annoyed, so many people were heading out to Missouri, to search for loved ones, to gawp at the wreckage, to .. argh what did it matter, they were in the freaking way! Move! I need to get to Reid! At this point Morgan wished he had hijacked the BAU jet.

Garcia sat next to him, a twitching mass of nerves. He is going to be OK isn't he? She thought .. he has to be OK! .. he is alive.. why did I put him on that plane?? I put him in danger! He is going to be OK isn't he? He is going to be OK isn't he? What if he blames me? Do they all blame me? He is going to be OK isn't he? I hope he is OK, please let him be OK? Please please..

Hotch, Prentiss and Rossi sat in another vehicle, about twenty cars behind Morgan. They had handed the case over to prosecution, confident that the P.D could handle the rest and going crazy with desperation to find Reid. Morgan wasn't the only one cursing the traffic.

Part of the frustration came from not knowing Reid's status, it was near impossible to get through to the hospital (though JJ kept trying) was he a walking wounded? Could they take him home? How badly was he injured? Was he even going to make it? Could he return to the BAU?

The five hours it took to get there, was the longest moments in all their lives.

* * *

Morgan looked down at Reid, his mind cataloging the injuries on the comatose patient. The first thing he noticed was the two bruises on Reid's head, the first one was a yellow green reminder of a bad morning. The other was a deep angry purple, the telltale mark, the one Doctors were sure had damaged Reid's brain permanently. But the mind is a funny thing and no one could be certain on the extent of the damage or even if there was damage, they would only be able to tell if.. WHEN Reid woke up.

"How is he?" Rossi asked from behind Morgan, breaking the silence. Part of Morgan wanted to retort what do you care? You don't even like Reid. That was probably a little harsh, Rossi probably did like Reid, just didn't know how to handle Reid.

"No change" he answered eventually, if daring Reid to answer otherwise, with a "actually seven out of ten people recover from a severe head injury, did you know the term injury comes from"... but there was nothing.

"How bout getting a cup of coffee? Something to eat?"

Morgan knew that the natural loner, Rossi was awkwardly trying to show support, or perhaps was genuinely concerned. But nothing right now, made him want to leave Reid. The rest of the team drifted in, to take a seat by Reid's bedside, all in silence. All just waiting for one thing.

Two days had passed, and there was still no change.

Four days. No change.

Morgan sat alone, the rest of the team were either sleeping, eating or paperworking somewhere. They each took turns to guard Reid, if he even as much flickered an eyelid, the rest of the team was connectated in seconds. Garcia was threatening to install a video camera so she could monitor him at all times..

"I will take you to that sci-fi convention in L.A. If you wake up Kid." he said quietly, this was bout the eight bribe he had offered Reid, others included a years free supply of coffee, a months immunity from paperwork and light sabre replica.

"Can we have our pictures taken with Chewbacca?" a quiet voice asked. Morgan thought at first he was dreaming, then fought the urge to bear hug Reid, as two eyes opened fixated on him.

"Anything you want Kid, anything you want."

The End

* * *

Ok, here is the third ending, that was I was dying to post, as a nyah nwah to everyone who guessed Reid was on the plane ... but liked Reid quoting Airplane statistics and profiling passengers more, so if you ignore that section in chapter three

* * *

Garcia had rang every morgue, every hospital, annoyed every member of search and rescue but still no sight of Reid, the rest of the team were breathing down her neck, have you tried so and so? What about... WHOSE THE COMPUTER EXPERT HERE? She almost snapped.

"No one has seen him."

"How is that even possible? Why isn't he with the other passengers??"

"Because I wasn't on the plane." a weak voice reported from the doorway. Reid stood there, one bruise on one side of his head, and a bigger bruise with a plaster in the middle on it on the other side. "When I got out the taxi, I tripped and knocked myself out, I have been in the hospital for the last five hours." he said sheepishly to the sound of the rest of the team's laughter.

The other ending end. :)

* * *

Hmm if need more explanation, when Reid is profiling his fellow passengers, he is sitting next to a CEO, but I was ambiguous about which side he was sitting on, so the death chapter is if Reid is the passenger sitting on the right, and mousey man lives, goes through his divorce, remarries and adopts a cat. Then this chapter is if Reid is the passenger to the right of the CEO then woo He lives :) but mousey man dies :(, I wanted both endings cause sometimes bad things do happen to good people hence the death chapter, but I couldn't live with myself if I killed Reid twice so instead he lives! curious to know which ending you liked best out of the three.


End file.
